I was shocked by how long their tongue is, but it definitely makes sense!

I was surprised with the depth of information about tongue structure.

The most startling to me was the way the tongue is designed and functions.

I was surprised to learn how long the tongue of a hummingbird is in relation to the beak. I knew they had long beaks but was surprised to see the visuals that show how the tongue works and the length as well as how it is positioned inside the head of the hummingbird. That was fascinating.

I wasn't aware that hummingbirds use torpor every night to conserve energy, but it makes total sense. I suppose that means hummingbirds benefit from these hot, hot days that don't cool off much at night - not as much body temperature change needed to conserve energy. I was also surprised to learn about how the arm structure of hummingbirds differs from that of other birds. Fascinating.

I knew Hummingbirds practiced torpor but I had no idea they spent 75% of day perching. When I walk I sometimes see the perched.

The structure of the wings are so different from other birds and how their tongues work!  I also didn't know they perched so much of the time.  I have sugar water and flowers for them in the backyard but from my office window in the front of the house I see them come by the flowerless shrubs and suspect they are going after bugs.

The way that they retract their tongues to wrap around the inside of their skulls was amazing. A month ago, I would have been surprised to learn that they do eat meats like insects and spiders, but I recently saw a ruby-throated hummingbird go to a suet feeder that is hanging in a tree in our backyard.

I was keen to know about hummingbird migration.  I've been lucky to see some hummers in the state of Oaxaca Mexico feeding on banana flowers in November, but I didn't know if they were the same birds I saw in the summer at home.  The migration maps were great!

I learned the hummingbirds have shortened legs, which I never picked up on from looking at them before.  And their shortened arm bones are what enable them to do those amazing aerial stunts like hovering and back flight.  Wondering if both those shortening traits are a result of the same DNA mutation in a developmental  stage that shortens both the wing bones and the leg bones?

These little guys are incredible from a distance - speed, flight, beauty etc - but “close up” they are simply magical, other-worldly. The things they do that we don’t see or appreciate elevate them to a different level - the iridescence, the figure of 8 wing motion, the torpor, the forked tongue that works like an eye-dropper and is then stored around the brain etc. Wonderful - literally.

i never new that humminbirds  spend 75%0f the the day perched in a tree i love all the colours  of the hummingbirds and my favorite family of hummingbirds are the coquettes and i love this course                

I was not aware of how complicated their lives are!  They are more than just a beautiful little bird! The explanation of their irridescence was explained very clearly.  I understand human vision better as well as a restult of that lesson.

I really love the fact that this course goes far beyond the amazing glamour and glitter of these beautiful creatures.  Whether it is the specialized wing structure that allows the unique flying style, the beak and tongue, the high concentration of mitochondria in flight muscles, or the torpor, they are even more amazing than their already unique looks might suggest.  Great job!

There is so much great information in this lesson. The structure of the wing was surprising to me, although it only makes sense that their wings would be structurally different from other birds. I have read about hummers at high elevation in the Andes lowering their body temperature, but I didn't know that other species also lower their temperatures, although perhaps not as much. I have never read about the structure of the tongue and the mechanism that squeezes out the nectar that's collected.

I was not aware that hummingbirds go into torpor, and was under the impression that Hummingbirds needed to stay flying most of the day to consume all the nectar they needed to survive. I knew Hummingbirds consumed a lot of nectar over the course of the day, and that they had incredibly high metabolic rates, to accommodate their incredibly fast wing speeds. I was also not aware that certain species of hummingbirds consumed spiders. This was a surprise because I thought that a hummingbirds beak was like a straw or proboscis on an insect, and that it could not open wide at all.

I was totally surprised by the fact that a hummer's bill opened so wide. I knew they ate insects and spiders but hadn't given much thought to how they did this!  Also I have noticed our Ruby-throated hummers coming to the corner of the house.....spiders webs are there, didn't think about the bird actually taking insects from the web.

Enjoyed the tongue and mechanisms to drink nectar

I knew that hummingbirds are one of the smallest bird species in the world and how they love to eat nectar and at night they go through torpor. There is a quite bit of things I learned in this course but I’ll give out a couple. Not only is the wing autonomy of the hummingbirds different than other birds that I knew already, but the leg autonomy. Other birds are able to walk but when it comes to the hummingbirds, they can only perch and rest 75% of the day which I thought hummingbirds seem to only rest mostly in the night. The most fascinating I learned about hummingbirds is how their feather structure is like all over their bodies and gorget. Their feathers are flat like flat disks that are piled on top of one another that can go up to 12 layers depending on what genetic species of hummingbirds. The melanosomes are the key to have the light absorb or reflect off the feathers that we love and fascinate to this day. Absolutely amazing knowing the science behind that.

Turpor surprised me. I didn't know about that. And it is good to know it now, because now I won't worry about what happens to the hummingbirds I see when night comes, or when there is a long rainstorm. They are safely in a protected spot in turpor!

One thing I find exciting today is that we have much more sophisticated instruments to study physiological attributes. Back when I was studying ecology and evolutionary biology the use of computers was still beyond the average researcher. This was in the 80's (took me a while to get back to school).  I think the work being done at Cornell on avian physiology and the subject of torpor is certainly adding to our understanding of how animals deal with the daily challenges of survival.

The torpor state is very interesting! I wonder if there are other advantages aside from preserving energy and nutritive stores. Is UV camouflaging a thing?! Would predators be less likely to find them during torpor?

I knew that hummingbirds went into torpor at night, but I had no idea how cold they get!  I also appreciated the explanation of how the structure of the feathers produces such brilliant colors.  Again, something I knew about superficially, but I never understood the details.

As someone who lives in the Southern Hemisphere I don't see Hummingbirds except when I travel but the number of species is amazing & so many are so beautiful. The number of ways evolution has produced organisms to exploit different survival opportunities is truely mindblowing. Hummingbirds exhibit a number of very interesting features from physical structure (bills & bones) & flight to the physics of feathers & appearance. A truly magnificent group of birds which I enjoyed learning about. My garden receives visits from some of our most attractive birds  (King Parrots, Rainbow Lorikeets, Crimson & Eastern Rosellas, Kookaburras, Cockatoos, Butcherbirds, Currawongs, Bronzewing, Satin Bowerbird + many more. We are very fortunate to be able to see such beautiful birds in spite of there being no hummingbirds.

I was surprised to hear from the video that in hummingbirds there is no bend in the wing during the upstroke but that the wing flips over, so the bird also generates lift on the upstroke. Looking at other birds fly I always saw this wing bend and assume because hummingbirds are so small and fast wing-beaters I could not see the wings bend.